Patient death: Kolkata hospital denies charges, to refund money

Kolkata, Feb 24 (IANS) Dismissing allegations of having refused to release a patient over money, a city hospital on Friday said it never asked for fixed deposits or deed for securitisation of bill dues, and agreed to refund all money paid by the patient’s kin, an official said.

Sanjoy Roy, 30, a resident of Dankuni, who was critically injured in a road accident in West Bengal died on Thursday night due to “inadequate treatment” by a private hospital, which also refused to allow the kin to shift him to a state-run hospital unless they paid up the full amount, the family alleged on Friday.

Roy was admitted to the Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals here.

“The patient was admitted on February 16 with multiple injuries in vital organs — liver, lung and abdomen. We have provided all the support and best treatments. Patient party wanted to shift the patient to a state-run hospital,” the private hospital’s Chief Operating Officer Dr Joy Bose told reporters here while explaining the kind of treatments they had offered to Roy.

The entire bill amount was Rs 7.23 lakh and the patient party paid about Rs 4.33 lakh, he said.

Accusing the private hospitals of not extending sympathy to the family, former West Bengal Minister Madan Mitra said: “They demanded deeds, ornaments and fixed deposits as Roy’s kin had failed to pay the total billed amount. This is unfortunate. I told them to arrange refund of the amount.”

However, Bose refused the allegation.

“We never asked for fixed deposits or deeds of house. Patient party proactively offered us to keep such documents,” Bose said.

Roy’s family decided to shift Roy to state-run Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education &amp; Research (S.S.K.M. Hospital) hospital after the bill amount at the Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals had gone up.

“During the transfer of the patient, we provided ambulance and all the treatment facilities till the patient was transferred to the SSKM Hospital. We ensured that the patient must get the same mode of life support what he was given in our hospital,” Bose said.

Speaking on the refund, he said: “We have got phone calls from him (Mitra) and agreed to refund the amount they have paid on humanitarian ground.”

The incident comes two days after state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee pulled up city-based private hospitals for “unethical money-making”.